Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
Read Proverbs 2:1–9
This week, let’s level our gun barrels at shallowness. Let’s allow the sayings we just read to speak out against our times with forceful relevance. I should warn you ahead of time, this may not be easy. Solomon has taken us into a mine shaft, as it were, to a place of hard work, but he will lead us to a valuable discovery.
As I look closely at these nine verses in Proverbs 2, I find that they can be divided rather neatly into three sections:
Read Proverbs 2:1–9
Read Psalm 142:1–7
David’s dark song, Psalm 142, concludes with a final request and a bold prediction.
Bring my soul out of prison,So that I may give thanks to Your name;The righteous will surround me,For You will deal bountifully with me. (142:7)
Read Psalm 142:3–6
In David’s dark song of depression, recorded as Psalm 142, the king confesses his deepest feelings of isolation and despair.
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,You knew my path.In the way where I walkThey have hidden a trap for me. (142:3)
Read Psalm 142:1–2
The raw emotion of David’s prayer in Psalm 142 comes through clearly in his choice of words. In his Cave of Adullam, the beleaguered future king struggled with depression and shrieked heavenward.
I used to wonder why we ever needed to utter words in prayer since God already knows all our thoughts (Psalm 139:4). Then one day I stumbled across Hosea 14:1–2.
Read Psalm 142:1–2
David’s depression most likely resulted from an unusually long period of stress. The superscript for Psalm 142, identifying David’s circumstances as “in the cave,” probably refers to the cave of Adullam. To appreciate the context, observe the first two verses of 1 Samuel 22:
Read Psalm 142:1–7
Who hasn’t struggled with those demoralizing seasons of dark sadness? Everyone suffers from grief and sorrow from time to time. But depression is a different matter. Like a disease, it’s very common, but it’s not “normal.” Depression is an extended state of mind characterized by acute sadness that most likely will not go away by itself. It needs attention.
Read Psalm 91:11–16
Having predicted your success in battle against the attacks of the devil (Psalm 91:5–10), this Psalm continues with several commitments from the Lord. He has promised to give you a tactical advantage, which the songwriter enumerates in the final verses.
Assistance against Evil
Read Psalm 91:5–10
In Psalm 91:1–4, the songwriter has acknowledged the Lord as his refuge when under attack by the forces of evil. Now in 91:5–10, he sizes up his enemy and calculates his (and our) chances of surviving the battle. (Spoiler alert: we stand a 100 percent chance of victory.)
Attitude toward Evil
Read Psalm 91:3–4
While the first two verses of Psalm 91 depict the faithful character of God, verses 3 and 4 describe what God does. The psalmist names three actions the Lord takes on our behalf:
a. He delivers: from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence
b. He covers: with His pinions/under His wings
c. He shields: by His faithfulness
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